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Broadband Below Your Minimum Guaranteed Speed?

Here’s how to check the problem properly, keep useful evidence and understand what to do if your provider cannot resolve it.

UK guidance · Last reviewed 12 September 2026

The short version

Find your personal minimum guaranteed download speed, test more than once under sensible conditions, keep a record and contact your provider if the problem persists. If the problem is on the provider’s network and cannot be fixed within the period covered by Ofcom’s Broadband Speeds Code, you may have the right to leave without an early-exit fee.

On this pageFind your minimum speedTest properlyKeep evidenceContact your providerIf it cannot be fixedEscalate a complaint

1Find your minimum guaranteed speed

Look at the information your broadband provider gave you when you took out or renewed your contract. Your minimum guaranteed download speed may appear in your contract information, order confirmation or online account. If you cannot find it, ask your provider.

Do not confuse this with the headline or average speed advertised for the package. Your personal minimum guaranteed speed is the important figure for this comparison.

2Test your broadband properly

One unusually slow result does not necessarily show an ongoing fault. Test more than once and at different times. Where practical, connect a computer or tablet to the router with an Ethernet cable: Ofcom notes that Wi-Fi can reduce the speed measured on a device.

Also avoid heavy downloads, streaming or other activity while you are trying to establish the performance of the connection itself.

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3Keep evidence of repeated problems

Keep the date and time of each test, the download and upload speeds, whether the result fell below your minimum guarantee and the conditions under which you tested.

A sequence of results is usually more useful than a single snapshot. Broadband Reality Check keeps individual tests rather than averaging them away, so you can show how the connection behaved over time.

4Contact your broadband provider

If the results repeatedly indicate a problem, contact your provider. Give them your minimum guaranteed download speed, the speeds you measured and when the problem occurred. They may ask you to carry out additional checks.

Remember that poor Wi-Fi coverage inside the home is not automatically the same as a fault on the broadband line. Distance from the router, walls, interference and individual devices can all affect a Wi-Fi result.

5What if it cannot be fixed?

Ofcom says providers covered by its Broadband Speeds Code must give customers a personalised minimum speed guarantee. If the service is below the promised level, the provider should investigate. If the problem is on the provider’s network and cannot be fixed within 30 calendar days, the customer must be allowed to leave the contract without an early-exit fee.

This does not mean one poor Wi-Fi test automatically gives you the right to cancel. The cause of the problem and your individual circumstances matter.

Official guidance: Read Ofcom’s Broadband Speeds Code guidance.

6If your complaint is not resolved

Start with your provider’s complaints process. If an eligible residential complaint remains unresolved, you may be able to use an approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme for free.

For complaints raised from 8 April 2026, the general ADR waiting period is six weeks from the initial complaint, or sooner if your provider issues a deadlock letter. Your provider will belong to an Ofcom-approved ADR scheme.

Ofcom does not resolve individual customer disputes, although reports to Ofcom can help it identify wider problems.

Official guidance: See Ofcom’s information on ADR schemes and broadband help.

Build a clearer record

Test it. Compare it. Repeat it. Keep the evidence.

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Broadband Reality Check provides information and test-recording tools, not legal advice. Speed-test results can be affected by your equipment, Wi-Fi, network conditions and other factors. Your provider’s contract terms and the circumstances of your case determine the rights available to you. Broadband Reality Check is independent and is not affiliated with Ofcom.